Mom wants to ensure kids of color have party supplies that represent them

“Everyone is basically saying it’s about time, this is exactly what we need.”

Event planner Lynnette Abbott has started a Kickstarter campaign so she can print her first run of party supplies with characters of color. (Photo by Craft My Occasion)

By Taylor Pittman, huffingtonpost.com

After noticing the party supply aisle lacked characters of color, a mom in Florida decided to make sure her kids’ birthdays could feature characters that looked more like them.

Lynnette Abbott, the event planner behind Craft My Occasion in Miami, has started a Kickstarter campaign so she can create party supplies that celebrate children of color. Her daughter, 5-year-old Anyah, sparked the idea while Abbott planned her birthday last year. The event planner noticed there were few characters on party supplies that resembled her daughter and her son, 9-year-old Adonis. She then set out to create more diverse party supplies.

Abbott’s first design is a mermaid of color with full lips, brown eyes and “curly, kinky hair.” She told HuffPost that the hair was of special importance.